Why Analysts Are Growing More Bullish on 3 Dow Stocks That Aren’t Apple

Investing

Published: August 2, 2017 1:35 pm

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 9:31 am

This earnings season has been absolutely explosive for Dow stocks. Last week Boeing knocked it out of the park and the stock rose over 13%, and this week Apple helped to push the Dow past the 22,000 mark. But these were not the only stocks that helped catapult the Dow to all-time highs.

A few analysts released reports Wednesday calling for three Dow stocks to rise even higher. It seems at this rate that the 23,000 mark is just around the corner.

24/7 Wall St. has taken a look at each of these reports and included some of the need-to-know highlights from each and how much higher analysts are calling for these Dow stocks to go.

Oppenheimer took a look at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and launched coverage with an Outperform rating and a $90 price target, versus an $80.50 closing price and implying nearly 12% upside.

In the brokerage firm’s view, a renewed focus at the company on superior store-level execution and a much more concerted effort online render the Walmart story “fresher than it’s been in years.” Key metrics such as traffic and comp sales have picked up lately. Oppenheimer is looking toward fiscal 2018 as the first year of more meaningful positive EPS growth for Walmart since fiscal 2013.

Shares of Walmart were last seen up 0.5% on Wednesday to $80.92, with a consensus analyst price target of $80.59 and a 52-week trading range of $65.28 to $81.00.

BMO Capital Markets issued a call on Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE). The pharma giant was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform and the price target was raised to $37 from $33. That compared with a $32.76 prior closing price and implies upside of 13%.

The brokerage firm believes Pfizer appears to have a number of potential blockbuster growth opportunities. The kicker is that half of these could be approved by 2020, and the company does not expect significant impact from loss of exclusivity from 2020 to 2025. BMO believes that this could lead to a relatively steady 2% to 3% revenue growth over the next few years.

Shares of Pfizer were trading at $32.80, with a 52-week range of $29.83 to $35.95 and a consensus price target of $37.40.

Independent research firm Argus was very positive on Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT). The firm issued a Buy rating with a $130 price target, versus a $113.10 closing price, implying a 15% upside.

Argus detailed in its report:

We see signs that business is clearly improving and valuations remain attractive, despite a recent move to the upside in the share price. This well-managed firm has a strong balance sheet and a focus on returning capital to shareholders. The business is highly cyclical, and various commodity and currency trends are now finally beginning to turn in the company’s favor. Meanwhile, management has been aggressively cutting costs. In the most recent calls, management has highlighted some positive developments at its end markets. Moreover, on a macro basis, key commodity prices have begun to firm, which could lead to better results for the company for the next several quarters. Despite the recent share price advance from cycle lows, the shares appear to offer value, and we see strong growth ahead.

Shares of Caterpillar were down 0.6% to $112.44. The stock has a 52-week range of $79.93 to $114.90 and a consensus price target of $116.26.